A Tale of Two Steves

Update (May 4th, 2010): The Board of Elections site says it will provide frequently updated totals from today’s election as they become available.  (As of this writing, zero precincts are reporting, but you can see what the totals were in the early voting.)

For anyone registered to vote in the primary tomorrow in Hamilton County, polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.  (See the Board of Elections site to check your registration and polling location.)  The county also provides a list of candidates and issues for your convenience (I believe the letters after candidates’ names other than the familiar “D” and “R” stand for the four “minor” parties recognized by Ohio: Libertarian, Constitution, Green and Socialist).  Here’s the skinny:

Many races have only one Republican running, which means that they are uncontested at the primary stage.

For the office of auditor of state, Seth Morgan vies with David Yost for the Republican nomination.  Yost has been endorsed by the Ohio Republican Party and by Ken Blackwell, but Morgan has been endorsed by a coalition of Ohio tea-party groups; so I say, vote for Morgan.

For Ohio secretary of state, the choices are Jon Husted and Sandy O’Brien.  Husted boasts a long (if repetitive) list of endorsements, but O’Brien has been endorsed by the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) and Family First.  (For extensive coverage of the question of which of the candidates, if either, is endorsed by one or more tea-party groups, if you’re interested enough to trudge through it, see here, here, and perhaps even here.)  I say, vote for O’Brien.

For congressman from the first district, Steve Chabot (our conservative longtime congressman until he was unseated in the Obama upset) is the only Republican running to get his seat back from Steve Driehaus.

For congressman from the second district, if you’re there, you have four choices: Debbi Alsfelder, Mike Kilburn, Tim Martz, and incumbent Jean Schmidt.  According to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Web site, all three challengers claim to be more conservative than Schmidt, and all four “oppose President Obama’s health care plan,” but Schmidt (who of course voted against Obamacare) is the one who has been endorsed by the “Free and Strong America” political action committee specifically as part of their campaign to repeal Obamacare.  Alsfelder’s emphasis on deficits, etc., and her “three-part test” sound good, but I still say, vote for Schmidt. 

Voters in this primary will also have the opportunity to vote for members of the state central committee of their political party (districts for this purpose are the same as state-senate distrcits—map here).  Unfortunately, one seat from each district is set aside for each sex.

—If you’re in the seventh district, your choices are Thomas Chandler, Michael Eshleman, Bill Koch, and Bob McEwen for the man, and for the woman Mary Anne Christie and Lori Ann Viars.

—If you’re in the eighth district, you have only one choice in each sex.

—In the ninth district, there’s again only one man running, but two women, Joanne Kemmerer and Amber Sprengard.  What little information I can find makes Kemmerer sound like the more pro-liberty candidate (pro-life, pro-Constitution, pro-Second Amendment, and apparently endorsed by COAST, Family First, and an Ohio Tea Party PAC).

For state senator, again, we’re divided into districts along the lines of the map linked above.

—In the seventh district, the Republican choices are Shannon Jones and Michelle G. Schneider.  Both of their Web sites claim some pretty good-sounding endorsements, but Jones’s include COAST and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, and her Web site makes a bold statement in opposition to Obamacare.  I say, vote for Jones.

—In the eighth district, Hamilton County lists no contestants.  In the ninth district, there’s only one Republican.

For state representative, we’re divided into districts as depicted in this map.

—In the 28th district, the choices are Jeffrey Paul, Tom Weidman, Mike Wilson, and Vicky Zwissler.  The League of Women Voters notes that Wilson is the founder of the Cincinnati Tea Party and a founder of the Ohio Liberty Council.  I say, vote for Wilson.

—In the 29th, 30th, and 31st districts, there’s only one candidate for each party.

—In the 32nd district, the candidates are Theo Barnes and Erik Nebergall.

—In the 33rd and 34th districts, there’s only one candidate for each party.

—In the 35th district, the candidates are Ginger Kubala and Ron Maag.  Maag is strongly against Obamacare.  I say, vote for Maag.

Finally, for county commissioner, Leslie Ghiz and Chris Monzel face off.  Monzel is endorsed by Cincinnati Right to Life, Family First, COAST, and the Ohio Tea Party.  I say, vote for Monzel.